Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Jonesin’ 5:45 (Erin) [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
NYT 4:55 (Evan) [3.55 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [3.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:24 (Eric) [3.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) rate it
Xword Nation untimed (Ade) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 4:20 (Jim) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) [3.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Context: Free” — no theme, no problem. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 5/20/25

Hello lovelies! We have a themeless this week with lots of interesting fill. Spanning the center of the grid are JASON MANTZOUKAS, ON CRUISE CONTROL, and STOLE SECOND BASE. The NE corner boasts DIVEMASTER, AM I TO BLAME, and the newly chosen POPE LEO XIV. Down in the SW we find MOONLIGHTS, ART CONTEST, and RETRO GAMER.

Things I learned today:

• 25a. [Movie that elicits certain emotions] WEEPIE
• 44d. [Half of a Daymond John-owned apparel brand] FOR US. FUBU stands for For Us By Us, and the sportswear company has been around since 1992.
• 27d. [___ conducción] (driver’s license, in Durango)] PASE DE. Does anyone know where this is commonly used? It seems like licencia / permiso / carnet de conducir/ manejar are more common.

Until next week!

Jared Goudsmit’s Universal Crossword “He’s All That” — Eric’s review

Jared Goudsmit’s Universal Crossword “He’s All That” — 5/20/25

A simple theme that’s appropriate for a Tuesday — a bunch of impressive guys hanging out together:

• 17A [Certain European ruler] GRAND DUKE
• 21A [“Golly!”] GREAT SCOTT
• 39A [Painting or poetry] FINE ART That’s a little odd to see without an S on the end, but men’s names seem to be part of the theme.
• 58A [Platform game series primarily set in the Mushroom Kingdom] SUPER MARIO 95% of what I know about the Mario Brothers games I learned from crossword, including the fact that mushrooms figure in somehow.
• 64A [“Sir!” … or a way to address 17-, 21-, 39- and 58-Across] MY GOOD MAN This revealer, or at least the way it’s clued, doesn’t quite work for me. I think it’s trying to say that, say, a “Great Scott” is a “good man.”

The rest of the grid seemed to have a lot of the same short words I see in many, many puzzles: YETIS, EDDA, NEON, IS IT, NEST, ALOE and SIRI among others.

Those easy answers helped me get answers that I either didn’t know or didn’t know as clued:

• 37A [Actress Rivera] NAYA She’s probably best known for Glee. Looking her up just now, I recall having done that before, because I remember reading of her death by drowning (at age 33) in 2020.
• 48A [Trolley problem subject] ETHICS This is a thought problem that poses the question of whether it’s better to kill one person or several.
• 62A [Actress Pulver] LARA I hadn’t realized, while solving, that I’d seen her as Irene Adler in the series Sherlock — and in an apparently-notorious nude scene.
• 66A [Mischievous-sounding D&D class] ROGUE
• 67A [R&B singer Scott-Adams] PEGGY
• 49D [Undergarment with a busk] CORSET I wasn’t familiar with this sense of “busk,” which is the stiffening strip I know as a stay.
• 61D [“___ Arbuckle” (cartoon series)] IGGY

Bonus points for:

• 3D I HAD A HUNCH
• 29D NAMED NAMES
• 31D [Medjool fruit] DATE They’re tasty, especially filled with Nutella or a dark chocolate peanut butter.
• Crossing 63A IPADS with 58D SIRI.

Peter Gordon’s Fireball Crossword, “Who’s Sorry Now” – Jenni’s write-up

This one was not blazingly hard. Not even close. Maybe it would be for someone younger than I am.

Fireball, May 19, 2025, Peter Gordon, “Who’s Sorry Now,” solution grid

There’s a reason this puzzle showed up in my inbox on Monday instead of Wednesday. 20a [Who member (born 5/19/1945) who wrote 17-across] is PETE TOWNSHEND.

• 17a [Who song in the Grammy Hall of Fame] is MY GENERATION.
• 35a [With 36- and 39-Across, lyric from 17-Across] is I HOPE I/DIE BEFORE I/GET OLD.
• 56a [20-Across and 60-Across, now] is OCTOGENARIANS and 60a is ROGER DALTREY.

Yup. They got old. Ironic!

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that there is a Grammy Hall of Fame.

Joe Rodini’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Going to Any Length”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases whose final four letters spell out units of length.

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Going to Any Length” · Joe Rodini · Tue., 5.20.25

• 17a. [Strapped for cash] FEELING THE PINCH.
• 24a. [“Sundown” singer from Ontario] GORDON LIGHTFOOT.
• 45a. [New England resort where grapes aren’t actually cultivated] MARTHA’S VINEYARD.
• 60a. [Begin grinning] BREAK INTO A SMILE.

Nice. I could complain that some of the words are compound words and feel like a little bit of a cheat, but you know, we have four very nice grid-spanning entries that fit the bill, so it’s all good with me. And of course, the fact that our units of length are in order from shortest to longest is a nice touch.

Fans of Seinfeld will enjoy seeing oddball UNCLE LEO in the fill, and SAYONARA is objectively a nice entry. The quintet of 7s in the center are solid as well: ESTONIA, SECRETE, AVIATOR, and LATE HIT, although the latter might not be familiar to those who don’t follow football. On the crunchier side, I had always assumed FRAK [Expletive on “Battlestar Galactica”] was spelled “frack”. And then BAHT and LAHR are early-in-the-week challenges as is ARCO as clued [With the bow, to a violinist].

Clues of note:

• 14a. [Suzuki who will be the first Japanese player in the Baseball Hall of Fame when inducted this July]. ICHIRO. Unusual for a clue to refer to something in the future. If this puzzle ever gets compiled into a book, the clue will have to change.
• 10d. [Charity that some trick-or-treaters collect for]. UNICEF. Is this a thing? I’ve never seen a kid trick-or-treat for anything other than candy.

Good theme with lively grid-spanning entries. 3.5 stars.

Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 729), “Crossover Artists: A Quintet of Intersections”—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 729: “Crossover Artists: A Quintet of Intersections”

Hello there, everyone! Hope all is well with you starting the new week!

There’s life imitating art, and then there’s artists being featured in crossword puzzles to create a work of art. In this case, there are 10 well-known artists (well, if you are an art fan/lover, then they’re well-known) featured in the grid, with five pairs intersecting each other inside of the puzzle. Now that’s a work of art!

• • • • • DELACROIX (17A: [Eugène who painted Chopin’s portrait]) + CHAGALL (4D: [“The Fiddler” artist Marc])
        • TURNER (21A: [“Fisherman at Sea” painter J.M.W.]) = EL GRECO (10D: [“View of Toledo” painter])
        • PICASSO (36A: [“Three Musicians” painter Pablo]) + CEZANNE (23D: [“Le Vase Bleu” painter])
        • TITIAN (55A: [“Ecce Homo” painter]) + MATISSE (42D: [“The Red Studio” painter Henri])
        • REMBRANDT (62A: [“The Polish Rider” painter]) + CASSATT (44D: [“Woman Bathing” painter Mary])

  My lack of having HBO for many years as well as being loath to going to the movies makes me feel real bad that I haven’t really seen too many of the amazing works of Issa RAE over the years (40D: [“The Lovebirds” star Issa]). That has to change soon, though I think I’m going to DRAG OUT the whole not going to the movie theater thing for a while (20D: [Prolong]). It’s just not my thing, I don’t know why. Seeing ZORRO made me think of a question: who is the first character that comes to mind when you see the words “masked hero” (33A: [Masked hero])? The Lone Ranger? Batman? Catwoman? T’Challa/Black Panther? Let me know your thoughts!  

  “Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: BLY (39D: [Journalist Nellie]) – Former NFL defensive back Dré Bly was one of the all-time great cornerbacks in the college football ranks, appearing on the All-America Team three times, including on the First Team in 1998, while at the University of North Carolina. He was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams, and helped the team win Super Bowl XXXIV in his rookie season. Bly spent 11 years in the NFL, where he recorded 43 career interceptions. Bly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

  Thank you so much for the time, everybody! Have a wonderful and safe rest of your day and, as always, keep solving!

  Take care!

  Ade/AOK

Rena Cohen’s Tuesday NYT Crossword — Evan M’s review

Rena Cohen’s Tuesday 5-20-25 Crossword Puzzle Solution

Evan Mulvihill here! This Week’s Tuesday NYT puzzle is by Rena Cohen, and it’s a fun one! The theme is things that have to do with messages, reframed/clued in a literal sense.

Things I liked:

• WEASEL WORDS – Actually had never heard of this term, and it’s pretty cool. Means things said in a vague way on anonymous authority, so that if they were later questioned, they are more easily defensible, or easy to walk back (in court, maybe).
• SIGN LANGUAGE – I can definitely see these things being on signs, so I liked this.

Things that were OK:

• CATCH PHRASES – Felt a little forced to me, there’s not really that many ways to tell someone to catch a ball/play the sports…
• FINISH LINES – Also felt a little forced.

Things I didn’t like:

• ON MESSAGE and CARGO SHIP being longer non-theme entries, super close to theme entries. It was distracting to the solve and neither entry is terribly strong, IMO.
• Generally the fill did not move me, but it wasn’t bad per se.

Amie Walker and Jess Shulman’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

The grid was definitely Tuesday. Figuring out the theme felt more like an NYT Thursday even after I had the revealer. Maybe it’s too early in the morning.

The revealer is 25d [“Anything fun on the agenda today?,” or a hint to the starts of 3-, 7-, 21-, and 29-Down] and the answer is WHATCHA UP TO?

Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2025, Amie Walker and Jess Shulman, solution grid

• 3d [Quick way to meet a bunch of people] is SPEED DATING.
• 7d [Right this second] is HERE AND NOW.
• 21d [Gotham City searchlight] is the BAT SIGNAL, which I always hear in my head in Adam West’s voice.
• 29d [Spot for doodling] is a SCRATCH PAD.

I tried initial and acronyms and I don’t know what all before I realized it’s UP TO SPEED, UP TO HERE, UP TO BAT, and UP TO SCRATCH. It’s fun and well-constructed and maybe not as tricky as I thought. Opinions? I know you have ’em.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: I have heard of “The Luminaries” but didn’t know the author was ELEANOR Catton.

Aimee Lucido’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 5/520/25 • Tue • Lucido • solution • 20250520

Not quite ‘moderately challenging’ for me this week, but not a breeze either. I spent most of my time in 4th gear, a little in 5th, and downshifted to third on a couple of small hills.

The marquee entries are the pair of 12-letter female celebrities among the downs: 7d [Pop star with the No. 1 hit “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”] ARIANA GRANDE and 20d [2016 Tony Award winner for the lead performance in “A Color Purple”] CYNTHIA ERIVO—both are names we often see in crosswords, but rarely in full. Incidentally, the musical revival was—like the novel and film—The Color Purple, with the definite article.

Auxiliary to that pair is 36d [Kosovo-born singer of “R.I.P.”] RITA ORA, with nothing similar to balance her out in the northeast corner.

Among the acrosses, also flanking the center of the grid, are a pair of 13-letter entries: 30a [Mental image?] THOUGHT BUBBLE and 35a [Culture passed from person to person, often through spoken word] ORAL TRADITION. While these two are loosely aligned, there isn’t the strong association that we saw in the slightly-shorter vertical entries mentioned above. As a result, they have a lesser impact on the solver.

• 1a [Tepid display of approval] GOLF CLAP, which led me to think that 14a [Like chili with a half a poblano in it, maybe] ONE-ALARM might be LUKEWARM. <stall>
• 27a [Widely disliked clock adjustment: Abbr.] DST. Unfortunately whenever Congress takes up the matter, they lean towards making Daylight Saving Time permanent, when most people—experts included—agree that Standard Time should be the permanent setting.
• 29a [Big name in the film industry?] SARAN wrap. Fortunately I had enough crossings ahead of time to see through this one right away.
• 33a [The “U” of GUI] graphic USER interface.
• 53a [Pum’kin] POOKIE, not COOKIE.
• 55a [Baby carrier at Mardi Gras?] KING CAKE. 39d [Recent arrival] NEONATE.
• 3d [Most bare-bones, as prose or a budget] LEANEST. 4d [Marbling in meat] FAT.
• 5d [Sound heard when the toast is ready?] the CLINK of a utensil on a glass.
• 10d [Eden evictee] EVE. The ‘evictee’ primes the solver. This strategy backfired for 13d [Syrupy, frozen treat] where the answer was SNO-CONE rather than SLURPEE. <throw it into reverse>
• 23d [Tentacle-faced monster of horror fiction] CTHULHU. Knew the answer, but not how to spell it, so I toyed with a UU in both the middle and end before 40-across NICHE placed the H for me.
• 26d [Fool, in pro-wrestling slang] JABRONI. Knew the word, but not in this context. Distressingly, knowledge of pro wrestling archetypes and concepts such as kayfabe illuminate much of our current politics—and that’s no accident.
• 28d [Provider of a prompt] CUER. Perhaps the only weak spot in the entire crossword, which otherwise is incredibly robust. Oh wait, the abutting 31d [Lead-in meaning “bone”] OSTE- is also undesirable. Nevertheless, the puzzle remains strong.
• 38d [Doug the Pug, e,g,] DOG. Easy to get even without knowing exactly who Doug the Pug is.
• 56d [Pixar’s Holly Shiftwell or Miles Axelrod] CAR.